The Play Date Cafe Challenge #96

I'm having a bit of a tough week, so I'll be sending this card to myself, thankyouverymuch.


HAHAHA! And now I'm cheered up after receiving this card made with the ADORABLE Gone Campin' set from Market Street Stamps. Loooove it! Market Street Stamps happens to be sponsoring this week's Play Date Cafe challenge. You know you want to win some of that, so play along with these fabby colors:


Happy Stampin',

• Stamps: Gone Campin' from Market Street Stamps
• Paper: PTI cardstock, My Mind's Eye DP
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, circle punch, Memory Box Loop Border die, Spellbinders die, ribbon, button (from Linda!)

New Release at Hambo Stamps!!

Attention Stampers!! Have you heard the good news??

Hambo Stamps has released some brand spankin' new stamp designs!! There are some more adorable images, and funny sayings!! I'll be sharing some cards with the new designs very soon, but in the mean time - CHECK OUT THE NEW HAMBO ARRIVALS HERE!! And when you place your order, tell Monica I said hi. :-)

The Play Date Cafe Challenge #95

This week's Play Date Cafe card is all about me and my little green bike.


See that quote? I love my bike. LOVE IT. But I haven't been out riding in years. Literally, years. I feel too old and unfit to be a bike rider. Seriously. Cyclists are the skinniest people on earth, and me squeezed into bike shorts is rather scary. So I stayed at home, didn't find a way to get out there. Isn't the quote on this card PERFECT? It's a Tim Holtz stamp and I love it something fierce. Here's the happy news - this week, I sent my son off to kindergarten, and celebrated this milestone by getting back on my bike!


Happy happy happy!

The card of course uses this week's Play Date Cafe colors...


I was also inspired by this fabby photo that my friend Sally Traidman took of a street in Stockholm. Sally inspired me to get out my watercolors and make a fun, splotchy background!


Now head on over to the Play Date Cafe blog and join the color challenge! The sponsor this week is Avocado Arts - I just KNOW you want a chance at winning some fabby goodies from them!

Happy stamping,

• Stamps: Tim Holtz
• Paper: Watercolor paper, SU cardstock
• Ink: Hero Arts, Memento
• Accessories: Watercolor paint, machine stitching

What's Cookin' Wednesday + a TE blog hop!

Helllllooooo! Today I'm sharing this month's Taylored Expressions Blast from the Past Blog Hop! Yay! The theme is "Collectors Anonymous", and we are supposed to include those crafty things we seem to COLLECT more then USE! Well lately for me, it seems I COLLECT nearly everything, including stamps! I have so many stamps that haven't even seen ink - craziness. But I just loooooove them, and have to owwwwwn them, and life has been too hectic lately to USE them!! That's actually part of the reason I sign up for hops like this, it gets me actually in here stamping. Without deadlines I don't know if I'd ever stamp, yikes! So anywho, in keeping with my What's Cookin' Wednesday theme, here's my card:


I was going to use the wonderful sketch that sweet Sankari provided for us, but then I created this "background paper" using my What's Cookin' set, and I couldn't bring myself to cover up any of it! LOL! I just love my own stand mixer so much - so I think this stamp is super fabby! I decided this mixer had a clear glass bowl, so I shined it up with some Glossy Accents:


I used more of the My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose line - love love love that paper! And another thing I have a vast COLLECTION of - silver brads! I don't mind "sacrificing" a whole long line of them, because for whatever reason I seem to own a lifetime supply! LOL!

Since it's Wednesday and I've been Cookin' some good stuff lately, I thought I'd go ahead and share a quick, easy & healthy What's Cookin' Wednesday recipe with you! Well I say "quick" - it does take some time in the oven, but it's quick to throw together! It's from Prevention magazine, and my hubs gave it the seal of approval too!

Fish with Artichokes & Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 2 large red onions, cut into 1/4" wedges
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen artichoke hearts, thawed (about 2 cups)
• 1 cup small cherry or grape tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 skinless tilapia or flounder fillets (1 1/2 pounds total)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. In a 13" by 9" baking dish, combine the onions and oil. Toss and then spread in an even layer.
3. Roast for about 35 minutes, or until the onions are golden. Remove from the oven and stir in the artichokes and tomatoes.
4. In a small bowl, mix the parsley, orange zest, and garlic. Set aside.
5. Increase the oven temperature to 450°F. Push the vegetables to one side of the dish and add the flounder. Arrange the fish evenly in the pan. Spoon the vegetables over the fish and sprinkle with the parsley mixture.
6. Return the baking dish to the oven and roast until the fish flakes easily with a fork (about 5 minutes for thin fillets and 10 to 12 minutes for thicker fillets). Place the fillets on 4 plates.

One note about this - it's from Prevention and they like to limit sodium intake, so there is no salt in the recipe. It was a little bland before adding salt & pepper at the table, but totally yummy after adding just a touch of it.

Now without further ado...



Thanks for stopping by today!!

• Stamps: What's Cookin' from Taylored Expressions
• Paper: SU cardstock, GP white, My Mind's Eye DP
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Accessories: PTI scallop edge die, machine stitching, SU brads, glossy accents, heart brad

First Day of Kindergarten!!

Ok who out there can believe my sweet little boy Carter - are you ready for this - STARTED KINDERGARTEN YESTERDAY!?!?! Where oh where has the time gone?? It seems like just yesterday I was blogging photos like this. *sniff* My baby is growing up too fast!!

Because I have school and new teachers and school supplies and PTA and bus rides on the brain, I decided to pull out my MFT Teacher's Pet set to play. I'm confident we'll eventually think his new teacher is the Best Teacher Ever...


I used my Crate Paper School Spirit pad to paper piece this, which I also happened to get from MFT a while back. The wooden button was a Renegade Craft Fair find:


And since there was all this MFT product going on, why not play along with the MFT sketch challenge over at Splitcoast?? It was a nice & easy one, good for a rusty stamper like me!


And now... some photos of my sweet boy from yesterday! Here he is, getting on the bus:


Big smiles in the afternoon:


And big hugs for mom!


I love this boy, and I am so incredibly proud of him!

Thanks for stopping by!

• Stamps: Teacher's Pet from My Favorite Things
• Paper: Hero Arts Kraft, Crate Paper School Spirit 6x6 pad
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Accessories: Machine stitching, 1" circle punch, wooden apple button, American Crafts twine - scarlet, PTI scallop edge die

Catered Crop Follow the Recipe #18!

Today I have a Quickfire Challenge to share with you! I just love saying that. I feel all Top Chef-like! But what I'm actually referring to is the design team Quickfire over at Linda's Follow the Recipe challenge! Here's my card for this week...


I decided to break out my Real Leaves set from Hero Arts. I'm ready for some fall weather! I have no idea what fall is like here in Georgia, but I'm anxious to find out. I am *not* a fan of the heat! I also chose the leaves because one the ingredients from our recipe was "anything that grows from a seed" - leaves grow from a seed, yes? Sort of? Another recipe item was "notebook paper" - so I used the MFT Notebook Edge die on some cork, but decided to use the "leftovers" from the die cut instead.


Now for the rest of the ingredients I chose to use from the recipe...

• Colors – primary colors like red, yellow, and a little brown (kraft)
  
• Stamps and Stickers – anything that grows from a seed
• Patterns – checked/gingham, notebook paper
• Color Mediums – stamping ink
• Embellishments – ribbon
• Tools – die cut shapes

Now head on over to Linda's blog and FOLLOW THE RECIPE! :-)

Take care,

• Stamps: CL457 Real Leaves, CL489 Yummy Treats (message) from Hero Arts
• Paper: Hero Arts Kraft, My Mind's Eye DP
• Ink: Hero Hues Punch, Latte chalk ink
• Accessories: Cork, MFT Die-namics Notebook Edge, American Crafts gingham ribbon

Happy Happy Birthday to Monica!!

Tomorrow is Monica's birthday and we're having a surprise blog hop to celebrate! Yay!! Monica is the owner of Hambo Stamps, one of my favorite stamp companies on the planet. She is kind and generous and funny and gave me my very first design team opportunity many moons ago and has put up with me all these years. She's THE BEST and I am so very grateful that she was born! Happy Birthday Monica, this card is 4 Ewe!


I used one of my favorite Hambo stamps, Party Sheep! I also played along with this week's Hambo Hoedown, which happens to be a sketch challenge. So much fun!


As for the hop, you should have arrived here by way of another great, funny, creative friend of mine, Leslie. If you just arrived on my blog by blind luck, make sure and start back to the beginning at Jenn's blog. And to continue on, hop on over to another one of my very favorite peeps, Dina! Be sure and leave comments along the way - there will be a special Hambo Birthday surprise to one lucky, random hopper! The winner will be announced at the Hambo Hoedown on Wednesday, August 17.

Thanks for stopping by!

• Stamps: Party Sheep - 3202 and 4 Ewe - 3205
• Paper: Kraft from HA, Pink from SU, BoBunny & My Mind's Eye DP, white
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Accessories: Spellbinders die, PTI scallop die, Fiskars stamp-edge scissors, SU oval punch, Michael's ribbon

The Play Date Cafe Challenge #94

It's Play Date Cafe time! And I am seriously diggin' this week's colors!


This week we're sponsored by Practicing Creativity - I'm also diggin' this fun Carved Love set I got to play with!


The colors from Jax this week are totally fabby:


I cut out the hearts from my Carved Love set and then coated then with Crackle Accents. I love that stuff. LOVE IT!! I also did some intentionally-messy-sewing, which always makes me smile as I do it. It's a sewing free for all!!


I thought the staple and brad at the bottom looked a little bit like an X & O, as in hugs & kisses. hee hee

Be sure to stop by The Play Date Cafe blog - to check out what my amazing teammates came up with, and to play along!!

XOXOXO to YOU!

• Stamps: Carved Love from Practicing Creativity
• Paper: Stampin' Up cardstock
• Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, ColorBox Frost White
• Accessories: Ranger Crackle Accents, stitching, staples, brad

A visit to Michigan...

Hi friends! I'm back from a family roadtrip - we took a somewhat-spur-of-the-moment drive from our new home here in Atlanta up to Michigan, to visit family & friends. Between the breathtaking Smoky Mountains, and the gorgeous white horse farm fences, the scenery along the way in Tennessee and Kentucky was absolutely beautiful. It's so nice having Michigan within relatively easy driving distance now!

The kids had tons of fun in Michigan! They played at the lake...


Went fishing with Papa in Great Grampa Harmon's pond...


Enjoyed s'mores around the campfire...


Listened to their Great Uncle Bruce sing & play guitar, along with our old family friend Jeff...


Carter went to a Tigers game with Daddy...


And they both got lots of hugs from Grammy!


All in all, a very nice vacation. Now back to reality!

Thanks for stopping by,

My Little Stamper...

Today my three year old did a little stamping! That just warms her mama's heart...


She was covered in ink by the time she was finished! Love it. :-)

Thanks for stopping by,

The Play Date Cafe Challenge #93

Woohoo, it's time for another Play Date Cafe challenge! I've been absent from the team for the past month or so, due to our move. But I'm mostly settled, the new term starts today and I'm BACK, baby!! Yayayayayayay!!


This week I played with some fun, fun stamps from Pink Persimmon called Vintage Cupcake. Want a chance to win some Pink Persimmon goodness of your very own? Then I highly suggest you go over and check out the Play Date Cafe blog post, hint hint! And while you're there, play along with this week's color story!


It's a fun day at the PDCC - we have our NEW designers joining us today!! They are completely fabby and I'm honored to get to design with them this term! A big welcome to Denise & Julie! Be sure to check out what they came up with, as well as my other teammates, at the Play Date Cafe! :-)

Thanks for stopping by,